Darkstone Code

Chapter 1116 - 1114: Who’s Afraid of Whom?

Since Lynch has been away recently, Anna didn’t stay overnight at Lynch’s villa today, and returned home.

The immense dining room resembled a medieval noble’s castle, though its decor wasn’t particularly lavish.

It felt like a gathering place, with long tables set in a spacious area, long benches on either side, where members of the Akiner Clan gathered to dine.

The Akiner Clan claimed to be of noble descent, hence they upheld noble traditions.

No matter what, as long as one was still home, they had to eat here.

Including Mr. Pato.

Mr. Pato sat at the central table, occupying the host’s position, with his siblings seated beside him. Uncles and aunts sat at other tables.

Those people were too old and had relinquished their power, distancing themselves from the core of the Akiner Clan’s power, naturally lacking the qualification to sit at the most prominent position.

Also, as elders of Mr. Pato, they didn’t wish to endure the expressions of a junior during meals, having been exhausted their whole lives, it was their time to rest.

Only the holders of power qualified to sit at Mr. Pato’s table.

Other juniors sat at the table on the left side, those who were highly regarded, representing the next generation of the clan. Once Mr. Pato retires from his position as Patriarch, these individuals would become the core of this dinner.

The entire dining room resembled a grand cafeteria, exuding something rigid and serious everywhere.

According to tradition, people could only use their cutlery after Mr. Pato had tasted the main dish tonight. Before this, they couldn’t do anything.

No eating, no drinking, no making sounds, just sitting.

However, today’s proceedings seemed off, as Mr. Pato didn’t pick up the cutlery for the fine roast chicken nor praised the chef’s culinary skills. Instead, he pointed at a few vacant seats at the end of the table saying, "Anna, come sit here."

For a moment, Anna, seated near the front of the left-side table, was caught in a blank state of mind; she instinctively stood up, bowed to her siblings, then walked to Mr. Pato’s table, taking the last seat.

Almost everyone was watching the changes here, Mr. Pato’s gesture indicated that Anna was a step closer to the "end goal"!

Had it not been for Mr. Pato and the deeply ingrained impression of the family’s ancestor’s teachings, there might have been hushed discussions at this moment.

Yet the dining room remained so quiet that only the various sounds resembled those heard when bellows are quickly pulled, panting sounds.

Before sitting down, Anna greeted each person at this table, a necessary etiquette.

It was precisely because of the people at the edge of this table that the family could be as glorious as it was now, but the next time, she wouldn’t need to salute again because she’d become "one of them."

Mr. Pato then picked up the cutlery, sliced a steaming piece of meat from the roast chicken leg, chewed it nine times, then swallowed it.

Afterwards, he picked up the napkin to dab at nonexistent grease at the corner of his mouth, turned smilingly towards the chefs standing by to express gratitude, "A very tasty dinner, thank you."

After the chefs bowed and left in succession, the dining room began to bustle, the diners’ actions producing considerable noise despite no one talking.

No one discussed anything over dinner unless they had sufficiently important matters, but evidently, no one had significant news tonight.

Everyone held a belly of questions, unsure why Anna could sit at that table, eager to ask what had transpired yet unable to speak, each appearing very troubled.

This dinner might be the shortest during this period. Quite soon, those younger folks left the table, bowing to Mr. Pato’s table before exiting the dining room.

One after another, they were too eager to learn what had happened.

After a while, the dining room held only Mr. Pato and Anna.

In the empty room, a mere sound would ripple like waves across a constricted water surface, continuously echoing.

Mr. Pato laid down his cutlery and looked at Anna.

"So uncanny..."

Mr. Pato held a wet towel, wiping his fingertips as he regarded Anna seated opposite him, "Time, event, timing, everything’s too coincidental!"

"You must understand, when all coincidences congregate, it’s no longer a coincidence!"

"I know you young ones like those chaotic TV dramas, where the female and male leads get pregnant just from sleeping once..."

"Hence this is a meticulously arranged trap, not a coincidence."

"Help me arrange a meeting with Lynch. I want to talk to him privately!"

"I hope no fourth person becomes aware of this matter!"

As he spoke, Anna immediately set down her cutlery, slightly bowed her head to indicate submission, and listened attentively.

After hearing what Mr. Pato had to say, although unclear about his exact meaning, she still committed to following Mr. Pato’s instructions.

Sometimes, within such a large family, maintaining indifference towards everyone is the best course.

You can’t just show enthusiasm for your own children or give them more resources and better ones simply because you’re the Patriarch, as it will only pile up conflicts until they completely explode in the end.

The simplest way is not to see these people as your own children and treat everyone the same, which is limited fairness, but at least, it is fair!

Then Anna knew she could get up and say goodbye. She put down her knife and fork, cleaned her face and hands, got up, and slightly bowed to Mr. Pato, "A very delicious dinner, Father."

After Mr. Pato nodded slightly in return, Anna quickly left.

A few minutes later, he stood up, looked around the dining room with only himself left, and left expressionlessly.

The next day, Anna came to the villa full of doubts, but fortunately, it was just doubts, not experience.

"My father wants to have a private chat with you," Anna said directly, not beating around the bush, revealing the task she had received.

Lynch wasn’t surprised at all. Mr. Pato could sense that he wasn’t surprised. It was like an old Hunter standing downwind could tell if there were prey upwind.

Some things can’t be hidden, like scents, traces of actions, and even the inertia of behaviors driven by animal instincts.

The market is the same.

With so many coincidences and non-coincidences, how could Mr. Pato, who specializes in the resource business, not notice these issues?

Besides, he is the CEO of the Star Dream Butterfly Conglomerate and has a keen perception of changes in the entire market. He discovered some issues.

More importantly, Lynch had "curiously" asked some sensitive questions not long ago.

He could guess this, which wasn’t surprising!

Lynch gave a definite answer and set a time.

A few days later, in the evening, the two sat on a small boat on the artificial lake outside the city.

It was just the two of them here, but neither brought a fishing rod.

Lynch didn’t like fishing. He didn’t like wasting his limited time on fishing. He could understand the game between man and fish and the joy of winning the game, but he just didn’t like such a time-wasting activity.

So the two of them just sat on the boat, facing each other, like fools.

"I should have brought a fishing rod. Even if I’m not fishing, at least it would look a bit better," Lynch broke the ice first, his opening line bringing a slight smile to Mr. Pato’s lips.

This rigid guy rarely showed his emotions. Then the feeling of "did he just smile?" disappeared, leaving only his usual demeanor.

"Alright, our time is limited. Can we skip this part?"

Upon receiving Lynch’s confirmation, Mr. Pato directly asked, "You plan to make a move on silver, right?"

Lynch didn’t admit it or deny it, "Why do you think so?"

"Because Nagariel discovered an open-pit gold mine!"

"You’re not in this business, so you might not understand our sensitivity to these matters. Once a gold mine is discovered, gold prices immediately drop."

"This deepened the worries about gold. With silver’s momentum being so strong, you want to push the silver prices up!"

"The better and faster silver rises, the more disappointed people will be with gold, and vice versa."

"More funds will flow from gold to silver, so you’re still planning to act on silver."

Lynch wasn’t surprised by Mr. Pato’s analysis. Many people could analyze the same result, but his curiosity lay elsewhere...

"Why me?"

Mr. Pato looked at Lynch, "Among the people I know, only you fit my guess the most."

"Lynch, not everyone dares to dance on a tightrope. I talked to you about this last time. You’re challenging the world."

"Maybe there’s now more than a hundred billion dollars in the stock market; if you want to leverage it, those people will make you pay with your life."

After hearing this, Lynch shook his head, "When people consider their own choices, they always tend to think positively, just like me. No matter how aggressive it is, I believe I will succeed."

"But when looking at others’ choices, they tend to be overly conservative, always thinking the chances of failure are higher."

"We can’t just see the risks without discussing the profits, Mr. Pato. You should understand that the greater the risk..."

Mr. Pato almost seamlessly continued, "The greater the return!"

Lynch nodded his head, "Yes, a hundred billion, even if I can only pocket five percent of it, it would be worth the risk."

"As for whether someone will use other methods to harm me..."

Lynch thought for a while, then smiled and said, "I will become their danger before they pose a threat to me!"